Display sign



April 4, 1939. w. l.. BELKNAP ET AL DISPLAY SIGN Filed May 28, 1958 5Sheets-Sheet 1 5 R O T j @ma April 4, 1939 w. L. BELKNAFl ET Al.'2,152,623

DISPLAY SIGN Filed May 28, 1938 f 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 WNW 24a LLIN pril 4,1939. w7 L,-BE| KNAP ET AL 2,152,623

DisPLAY SIGN Filed May 28, 1958 l A 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 "www" DnnuclnnPatented Apr. 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT CFFICE DISPLAY SIGNApplication May 28, 1938, Serial No. 210,752

9 Claims.

'I'his application is a continuation in part of our prior applicationSerial No. 49,940, filed November 15, 1935.

This invention relates to a display sign, and has for an object toprovide a sign for display purposes which will have a new anddistinctive elect so as to draw attention to it.

It is also an object of the invention to provide such a sign which canbe made at low cost, and in which the display matter may be varied asdesired at low cost to secure different desirable effects.

Other advantages and objects will become apparent as the descriptionproceeds. We are, however, not limited tol the specic details ofconstruction and arrangement shown in the accompanying drawings but mayuse different variations and modifications within the scope of theinvention.

In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a sign embodying our invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation on an enlarged scale of the sign panel ofFigs. 1 and 2 showing the display matter more in detail;

Fig. 4 is a detailed section substantially on line 4 5 of Fig. 3 and onan enlarged scale;

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are similar sections substan tially on lines 5 5, G'-6and I-l respectively of Fig. 3;

Fig. '7a is a plan View of a character on an enlarged scale, parts beingbroken away to more clearly show the construction;

Fig. 8 is a plan View of a sign showing how a plurality of units may becombined;

Fig. 9 is a front View of a panel similar to Fig. 3 showing a differentarrangement of the display matter;

Fig. l is an edge view thereof;

Fig. 1l is a section substantially on line II-II of Fig. 9 and on anenlarged scale;

Fig. l2 is a similar section substantially on line l2-I2 o Fig. 9 and onan enlarged scale;

Fig. 13 is a detailed plan view of a single character, parts beingbroken away to more clearly show details;

Fig. 14 is a section substantially on line l4-I4 of Fig. 13;

Fig. l is a similar section substantially on line I5--l5 of Fig. 13;

Figs. 16 and 17 indicate slight modifications of particularly differentways in which the characters, such as designs, and letters may beformed;

Fig. 18 is a front View of a sign panel showing another modification;

Fig. 19 is a section of a portion of the panel of Fig. 18;

Figs. 20 to 24 are views of a portion of a panel and sign charactershowing further modifications; and

Fig. 25 is a section of a portion of Fig. 24 taken substantially on line25-25 thereof. i

In display signs it is desirable that the sign be so constructed that itcan be made at relatively low cost, and particularly it must have aneffect that will attract attention. It is also desirable that thedisplay matter may be readily changed to accommodate matter for changesin prices or for featuring different articles, etc.

The sign illustrated in the drawings is designed primarily for indooradvertising, particularly for use in store windows and the like, but ofcourse may be used in other locations.

rI'he sign illustrated comprises a holder and reflector I6, which in thepresent case is generally pyramidal in shape with a square orrectangular open side forming the base oi the pyramid, and a suitablelight source, such as an electric lamp il, mounted in a suitable socketI8 in the apex, which socket is connected by leads I9 to any suitablesource of electric current. If desired a flicker or flash element 2ilmay be mounted in the socket operating with a thermostat in the usualand well known manner to continuously turn the light ofi and on everyfew seconds to attract attention. The side panels ZI are tapering and ontheir inner surfaces are painted white to .give a more uniform andbrighter illumination of the display matter of the sign. This makes avery simple holder for the sign which may be set in a store window or ona counter, and it can be made at low cost. It rests on the lower edge 22of the base and a supporting leg 23. This holder is shown merely by wayof example as any other suitable type of holder may be used for our signto hold it where it is easily visible and can be readily illuminatedfrom the rear.

The display sign proper comprises a panel 24 preferably of suitableopaque material, such for example as wood, metal or cardboard, and onthe iront surface of this panel there may be mounted in one form of thedevice the characters such as letters or outlines of articles or anyother suitable matter it is desired to have in the sign. It is notnecessary, however, that the characters be raised above the surface ofthe panel as a greatly improved effect can be secured by having thecharacters painted or printed directly on the face or front surface ofthe panel and then the openings be cut in or through the panel.Throughout the specification and claims we have used the word characterin the generic sense as meaning a letter, number, gure of an article, orany other element of a sign, to which attention is to be attracted. vThepanel 24 is preferably of cardboard as this can beiprovided atrelatively low cost and it gives the desired effects, although othermaterials may be employed as desired.

In the showing of Fig. 3 this panel has a combination of charactersincluding letters for words 25 and a figure 25 illustrating an articleto be advertised, in this particular case a globe valve. In thisspecific form the characters are mounted on the surface of the panel andproject forwardly therefrom, and preferably are of a thickness aboutequal to the thickness of the panel itself but not necessarily so asthey may vary in thickness. They may be made of cardboard, wood or othersuitable material. Each of the characters is outlined by narrowopenings, in this present form comprising narrow slots 21 cut in thebody of the panel so that they extend entirely through this panel, andthe openings are closely adjacent the outline of the sides of thecharacters so that these characters are outlined by the narrow openings.The openings, however, need not be slots but may 'ce of other shapessuch for example as round, square, diamond shape, oblong or any othershape as will later be described, so long as they are suiiciently narrowto secure the desired effect. With round, square, diamond or relativelyshort or small openings outlining a character a series of these openingsin line is used in place of the elongated slots. The slots are notcontinuous asV there must be left'tie-in portions indicated at 28 sothat the characters will be supported as a part of the panel, the basesor panel part of the characters being an integral part of the panel.(Figs. '7a and 13). These openings outlining the characters should bevery narrow for the best effects. Our experiments so far indicate bestresults with openings about elf wide although they may vary somewhat,but at the present time we are not prepared to say how much variation ispermissible to secure the desired effect. They should be sufcientlynarrow that color of the translucent material will not normally show inthe openings with the sign material on the face of the panel when thesign is used for daylight visibility, but wide enough so that whenilluminated from the rear of the panel it will be visible. When a raisedcharacter is used it is preferably a substantial duplicate in shape andthickness to the part of the panel of the inner section outlined by theopenings, but the thickness may be varied. It is desirable that theinner edges of the narrow openings be closely adjacent, that is inalignment with the sides 0f the characters. AThe narrow openings are cutin the cardboard leaving tie bars 28 at suitable distances as shown moreclearly in Figs. l, 7a and 13, and then the characters are supported onthe outlined portions which are thus integral parts of the panel. Theopenings may be out in the panel and then the raised characters appliedby cementing them to the surface of the panel, or the raised part of thecharacter may be attached to the surface of the panel and then theopenings cut in the panel to outline the character.

Mounted on the back of the panel over these openings is secured coloredtissue paper or similar translucent material such for example asCelluloid or Cellophane, or any other suitable material for transmittingcolored light through the narrow openings when the rear of the panel isilluminated. Throughout the specification and claims we employ the wordpaper in a generic sense as meaning any of these materials. Thistranslucent material is indicated at 29 and the same piece of materialmay be used for a whole word so that the whole word is of a single coloror a diierent colored material may be used for each character, or onecolor may be used for one portion of a character or design and othercolors for other portions and so on. Thus, as shown in Fig. 9, each oneof the pieces of paper 29 at the b-acks of the letters ofthe word Dozenmay be of a color different from each of the other letters, or they maybe all of the same color, or a single strip may be used for the wholeword, or a certain color may be used for the words California Orangesand another color for the `word Sunkist, or the numbers 30 may have atranslucent material 29 of one color while the arrows 3l have a material29 of another color, and so on, and it will be obvious that the numberof combinations which may be devised are numberless. The same is true ofthe panel in Fig. 3 in which the words 25 such as Brass Goods may havetranslucent material of one color while the handle 32 of the Valve mayhave another color, such for example as blue for the material 29, whilethe material 29 for the body of the valve may be yellow or orange toindicate brass. Still further the trade-mark or makers name 33 may havea backing material 29 of still another color and It has been found thatwhen the back of the panel is illuminatedthe light of various colorstransmitted through the translucent material passes into and through theopenings outlining the characters, illuminating the side walls of theopenings and the side surfaces indicated at 3G of the charactersimmediately forwardly of the openings. These characters may ofthemselves be painted of different colors but it has been found thatthese narrow openings with'the various colored illuminations passingthrough from the back give a Very striking effect which is difficult todescribe but which to us appears to be a glow or glass like effect. Thecharacters have the effect of depth and also a certain shine orreflection or glow effect. When the light is extinguished the sign canbe read the same as any printed sign, but whenY the light is lighted itgives a striking glass like or glow eifect although the body of theletter is black because the panel is opaque.

This effect of depth and the glass or glow effect is accentuated by thethickness of thepanel and the height of the characters extending abovethe surface thereof. The panel may also have additional openings such as35 cut in the panel itself and having colored translucent materialen theback thereof to give a sort of ray effect desired, and also there may beopenings 36 in the form of circles, etc., but these do not give as muchof the glass effect as is secured with characters which are raised orextend outwardly from the lface of the panel and are outlined by thenarrow openings. The colored pieces of translucent material 29 may besecured to the back surface of the panel by any suitable means, such aspasting it thereon, and if desired may be protected by a sheet 37 ofsuitable transparent material such as Celluloid or Cellopane.

As indicated above the panel of Figs. 9 to l5 is the same as that ofFigs. l to 7 except that it has different display matter. As thematerial of which the panels are made is inexpensive andthe sign mattermay be .easily cut into. the. panel. various panels may be provided foradvertising various articles and the sign may be changed as often asdesired by merely removing one panel from the holder I6 and insertinganother in its place. In the present device spring clips 4| are shown.for that purpose.

A Very eiective sign can be secured by the arrangement illustrated in 8in which more than one holder, each having a display panel, arecombined. In the illustration there are three of the holders la, Ib and[6c each having a light for illuminating the panels 38', 39" and 49which are like the panels 24 and 24a. By arranging the holders as shownwith the panels 38 andl 49 in clined at an angle say of about 45 degreesto the panel 39', if the device is located for example in a store windowa person approaching along the sidewalk will be attracted by the panel4t before he reaches the window. Directly in front of the window he willread the panel $9 and as he passes may also read the panel 38 so thatvarious ideas and various goods may be displayed at the same time. Eachbox la, Ib and lGc will have a light for illuminating its panel and theymay be tied together as a unit by suitable straps 42.

Instead of forming the characters, suchI as the letters and designs, asseparate members fastened to the front face of the panel or cardboardthey may be formed in different ways. We have shown examples in Figs. 16and 17. Thus as indicated in Fig. i6 the characters may be made byembossing them on the face of the panel in a press. Thus if 24hrepresents the panel of cardboard or other suitable material thecharacters 33h may be formed to extend, forwardly from the face of thepanel by embossing them in a press and then be outlined by the narrowslots 21 as described above. The colored translucent material 29 is usedon the back of the slots the same as in the first form. It may also beprotected by the transparent material 31.

In Fig. 17 is indicated another way in which the characters may beformed. Here the charact-ers indicated at 30e are molded integrally withthe panel 24o. Thus the wet cardboard brous material for example orpapier-mch may be molded to give the raised characters and then thenarrow openings 21 out to outline them as in the other forms. Thecolored translucent material 29 is also used to cover these openings andmay be protected by the transparent covering 31.

In Figs. 18 and 19 is shown another way in which the characters may beformed. In these figures the opaque panel 38 is similar to the panel 24or 24a of the first form and may be placed at the front of the holder I5to be illuminated from the rear the same as in the other forms. In thefigure or character, however, in this form, the narrow openings throughthe panel are in the form of small round openings 39, and it will beseen that the character or design is outlined by the circular openingsthe same as the narrow elongated openings of the rst form. Thesevopenings are located closely adjacent and for the most part are arrangedin linear series as shown. These linear series may be used not only tooutline the outer connes of the figure but also may be used to outlineor differentiate different portions of the body area of the figure. Thusthe feather 4S is outlined or differentiated fromr the feather 4l by aline of openings 42. Similarly other feathers or surface areas as 43,44, 45, 4S,

eta, may be differentiated, bysiinilar lines of different openings, itbeingunderstood that. theY ent surface areas in the body of thecharacter butl also that. the body of any particular area may be lled inwith these openings as indicated at 59, 5I and 52 so as to give a fullerlighted eiect for the body of any particular area. The backs of theseopenings are covered with the thin colored translucent material 53 thesame as in the other forms to give the different desired eects.Different; surface areas may be given different colors on the front,face of the panel and then the translu- Gent material 53 at the back ofthis area and other areas may be given different colors to givedifferent color effects when the panel is lighted from the rear thanwhen lighted from the front. Thus for example the carrier 4&3 may bepurple, the area #ll red, the area 43 orange, the area 44 green, etc.,and then the translucent materlal 53 covering the backs of the openingsin these areas may be of diil'erent colors asdesired, so that the areaswhen illuminated from the front will give Y one effect or combination ofcolors and when illuminated from the rear, so that light passes from therear thro-ugh the openings, it will have another color ellect from thecombination of colors in the translucent material.

The small round openings give a very brilliant effect when the panel islighted from the rear, and they do not detract from the visibility oreffect when the panel is illuminated from the front. In fact they may beused in such a way as to add to the efect when illuminated from thefront, although the openings are so narrow that the colored translucentmaterial on the rear of the panel is not normally visible when the panelis illuminated from the front only. These narrow openings, however, neednot be round but may be of otherI shapes, such for example as diaV mondshaped, square, oval or slightly longer than square, or any other shapeto secure the desired eifect. Thus in Figs. 18 to 24 we have illustrateda series of different shapes. In Fig. 20 the panel 54 has a character 55thereon in the form of a letter I outlined by round openings 56.

These y openings, however, for simplicity of the drawings are notcarried through the outline of the letter but are shown only in a smallportion of it. Also, the letter may not only be. outlined by thesenarrow openings but any portion or all of the body area may be filled inwith these openings as indicated at 5I.

In Fig. 21 in the letter 5 5 the openings are or narrow diamond shape asshown at 58 and similarly .as described in connection with Fig. 2,9 allor any part ci the body area of the character may be lled in with thesenarrow openings.

In Fig. 22 the narrow openings as indicated at 59 outlining or fillingin the character are indi.- cated as substantially square.

In Fig. 23 the openings @9 are ov-al, and in Fig. 24 the openings el aresmall rectangles and a little longer in one direction than in the other,

in other words are short slots. It will therefore be understood that thenarrow openings may be long or short as desired and may be any one of anumber of different shapes.

It has been old in display signs to outline letters or characters withslots that are illuminated from the rear, but so far as we are aware weare the first to outline these characters, especially raised characters,by means of narrow openings through an opaque panel which openings arecovered at the rear of the panel by colored translucent material, suchfor example as colored tissue paper, or other suitable material as abovem-entioned whereby when the rear of the panel is illuminated we securethe new and distinguishing glass like or glow effect of the letters orcharacters of the display. The principle of the novel eect obtained bythis type of sign involves the provision of apertures or openings ofsuch small size or narrowness through an opaque material of suchthickness re1- ative to the size of the apertures or openings that thecolored translucent material, such for example as colored tissue paperor the-like, over the back end of these openings serving as lightfiltering panes at the inner ends of the apertures will be virtuallyinvisible for daylight visibility or when the panel is illuminated fromthe front only. This may be because of more or less shadow formed by thesidewalls of the opening and probably also because of this smallness ornarrowness of the apertures the amount of light reflected from thecolored translucent material is so small as compared with that from theillumination of the front surface of the panel that the translucentmaterial in effect is practically invisible when the panel isilluminated from the front only. However, when the panelfis illuminatedfrom the rear, especially with very little or much less illuminationfrom the front, then the effect of colored light transmitted through theopenings from the back of the panel is very striking and gives a verybrilliant and novel effect quite different from the effect which issecured when the panel is illuminated from the front only.

Having thus set forth the nature of our invention, what we claim is: v

1. A sign comprising a sheet of cardboard having a character outlined bynarrow slots through the cardboard, a raised character on the face ofthe cardboard resting on the inner section of the outline and of aduplicate shape thereto, said raised portion Vbeing also ofsubstantially the same size as the inner'section of the outline, andtranslucent colored paper covering the rear of the slots so that lightfrom the rear of the cardboard will pass through this paper to theSlots.

2. A sign comprising a sheet of cardboard having a character outlined bynarrow slots extending through the cardboard and separated from eachother at their ends by narrow cross bars integral with the cardboardforming supports for the inner s-ection outlined, a duplicate section tothat of the inner outlined section on the front face thereof andprojecting forwardly from the face of the sheet so that light passingthrough the slots from the rear will illuminate the sides of theduplicate section, and thin translucent paper covering the rear sides'of the slots.

3. A sign comprising an opaque panel having sign matter thereon, saidsign matter embodying painted characters each projecting forwardly fromthe face of the panel, said panel having narrow slots therethroughoutlining the characters at the edges thereof'so that light passingthrough the slots illuminates the side walls of the characters, and thincolored translucent paper covering the rear sides of said slots so thatlight from the rear will pass through the paper to the slots.

4. A sign comprising an opaque panel having characters thereoncontrasting with a background for daylight visibility to create anartistic effect, said characters being outlined by e'xtremely narrowslots through the panel, and thin 'colored translucent paper coveringthe rear sides of said slots so that when the sign is illuminated fornight visibility colored light from the rear will pass through the slotsto create a different artistic effect, and said slots being so narrowthat color of the paper will not show in the slots when the sign is usedfor daylight visibility. Y

5. A sign comprising an opaque panel having characters thereoncontrasting with a background for daylight visibility tocreate anartistic eifect, said characters being outlined by extremely narrowopenings through the panel, and thin colored translucent paper coveringthe rear sides of said openings so that when the sign is illuminated fornight visibility colored light from the rear will pass through theopenings to create a different artistic effect, the said openings beingso narrow that color of the paper will not show inthe openings when thesign is used for daylight visibility.

6. A sign comprising an opaque panel having a character thereoncontrasting with a background for daylight visibility to create anartistic effect, said character being outlined by extremely narrowopenings through the panel, said openings being arranged'in rows andwith the openings in the rows closely adjacent, and thin coloredtranslucent material covering the rear sides of the openings so thatwhen the sign is illuminated from the rear coloredV light from the rearof the panel will pass through the openings to create a differentartistic effect, the said openings being so narrow that 'color of thetranslucent material will not show in the openings when the sign isilluminated from the front only.

7. A sign comprising an opaque panel having a character thereoncontrasting with a background for daylight visibility to Vcreate anartistic effect, said character being outlined by extremely narrowopenings through the panel, portions of the body areas of the characterbeing also filled in with similar narrow spaced openings, and thincolored translucent material covering the rear sides of Vthe cpeningssoVthat when the sign is illuminated from the rear colored light will passfrom the rear of the panel through the openings to create a differentartistic effect, the said openings being so narrow that color of thetranslucent material will not show in the openings when the sign isilluminated from the front only. Y

8.7A sign comprising an opaque panel having a character thereoncontrasting with a" background for daylight visibility to create anartistic effect, said character being outlined by extremely narrowopenings through the panel, said character including body areas withinthe outlines which are delineated from each other by similar narrowopeningsV disposed in linear series, and thin colored translucentmaterial covering the rearV sides of said openings so that when the signis illuminated from the rear colored light will pass through theopenings from the rear ofthe panel to create a different artisticeffect, the said l openings being so narrow that color of thetranslucent material will not show in the openings when the sign isilluminated from the front only.

9. A sign comprising an opaque panel having a character thereoncontrasting with a background for daylight visibility to create anartistic effect, said character being outlined by extremely narrowsubstantially circular openings through the panel arranged closelyadjacent in linear series, and thin colored translucent materialcovering the rear sides of said openings so that when the sign isilluminated from the rear colored light from the rear of the panel willpass through the openings to 'create a diierent artistic eiect, the saidopenings being so narrow that color of the translucent material will notshow in the openings when the sign is illuminated from the front only.

WILLIAM L. BELKNAP.

EDWIN L. MEYER.

